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This topic has moved here: Subject: The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of
  • Subject: The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of
Subject: The 7th Column, The Community, It's Guy, and The Lack There Of

Posted By: Gendo
Of course, but i could count the only decent (in my opinion) australian members on one hand.

If I'm not mistaken, you can count all the Australian moderators on one hand =\

[Edited on 3/14/2007]

  • 03.14.2007 12:01 AM PDT
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Snowman, just less often that the complaining about the site, is complaining that we all need to work together and make a better community!. Usually following this post, a lot of people will agree with you, yet nobody will post with any suggestion on just how to turn the sprawling mass of the h3 forum into ye olde Bnet.

  • 03.14.2007 12:03 AM PDT
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Posted by: xTr1GGeR HaPPYx
Posted By: Gendo
Of course, but i could count the only decent (in my opinion) australian members on one hand.

If I'm not mistaken, you can count all the Australian moderators on one hand =\

Gendo has two fingers.

Anyway, he said members.
-TGP-

  • 03.14.2007 12:03 AM PDT
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Posted by: xTr1GGeR HaPPYx
Posted By: Gendo
Of course, but i could count the only decent (in my opinion) australian members on one hand.

If I'm not mistaken, you can count all the Australian moderators on one hand =\


Yes, because theres less moderators than members.

Silly nubbin.

  • 03.14.2007 12:04 AM PDT

Woops! Blame sleep deprivation. =\ My bad.

  • 03.14.2007 12:07 AM PDT
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Interesting little rant. Most of it if not all I don't really understand from my point of view. Perhaps I have been around long enough in the world of forums and sites like these to understand things perhaps a little clearer.

There will always be those that seek higher standing in the community such as being a mod but really those that do seek these things should not concern you to much. For me the people I admire and respect most here are not always moderators.

When someone becomes a moderator you should understand the choice as that of a group of people. I'm sure it's not just Achronos or Frankie that choose them. No doubt all the current moderators are involved in some way in the choice.

I've been very happy with the choices of Bungie staff. I had a great respect for many of them well before they were even chosen. Namely GJJ, TGP and even Toast. What can happen in a lot of cases is that this position becomes to much for them. I could never moderate Bungie because I have a short fuse amoung other things. However when these people are chosen they may seem like a good idea at the time but it does take time to see how they fit into the role.

This is a big site and an extremely active forum at times. Achronos and Frankie are really the main guys given the task of keeping thousands happy. It's not easy and any major change to a site like this takes time and a great deal of consideration in all facets.

What can often reflect the site to others is it's members and in essence there is very little the staff can do about a lot of that. I admire your willingness to bring these things to light but certainly the best thing you can do is love this place and treat it like you would your home.

  • 03.14.2007 12:11 AM PDT

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Again, they were having fun and a bit of fun isn’t a bad thing, but these people have no idea when to stop, and those of dignity who are aware of their actions – the respectable GameJunkieJim, say – are powerless to stop them without in some way endangering their relationship.
A reference to the "Spartan Bruce" I will assume. I did ignore it, and even chuckled a bit. Why? The Halo 3 forum was less than 2 weeks old, had over 200 pages of worthless topics, and they kept it confined to a single garbage thread which I left alone until it got so wildly off topic I had no choice but to lock it. My justification? Achronos himself warned that the forum would be like that and to keep our sanity we might want to take it a bit easy on the more harmless posts until the forum stabilized. Also, might I point out that there are several fan originated silly ideas that go around in parts minor and major through the annals of Bungie Lore; Battle Weasels anyone?

Part 3:
Also, wasn’t a personality instead of a few set phrases a prerequisite of becoming a ninja? I suppose not, anymore. Granted that Achronos does have the final word in selections, but he’s always really going to trust the word of his moderators who spend more time amongst the community unless he’s specific reason to think otherwise. The damage these people cause is to the community itself, by setting a poor example of behaviour standard and also repelling members by their actions. Because TFM has always been very aggressive and, if one of their number does not like a person, they will all join together against said user.
I take offense to this statement, as I am a member of TFM and have not participated in any such thing, and (naming names) Pezza has also gone against them on several occasions, one reason I do not question his morality when it comes to his duties as a moderator. Jay and Jeff can get out of hand plenty, but I wouldn't be so quick to single certain people out, when we have people that make 30, 40 or more accounts with the sole purpose of aggrivating people on this site. Jeff and Jay's actions are at the very least limited to basic pranks and nominal bad behavior, and are always tempered by a true love of Bungie's recent body of work, and the people they meet here that aren't as quick as others to judge.

-The explanation for [Nos's] upgrading was, apparently, that he’d played World of Warcraft with Bungie and had got to know them quite well. -It was not TFM exclusively that had such a complaint - many people on the site did, and really, it doesn't matter a fig if they do have a problem with it, Nos never did anything detrimental to the site and helped quite a number of people. He, like Jim after his acquisition of powers, faded away from Bungie.net and ceased to be quite the superb members they once were. It's not as easy as you would think to keep the activity high, sorry my personal decisions offend. One has to temper the wish to participate with the fact that many assume moderators are "in" with Bungie, or that we know something secret, or we have secret cpies of games or other such nonsense. People do assume such, unfortunately, and so our percieved activity does indeed fall. Don't forget that we are regular people, and as such have jobs, family, school, or other obligations that may supercede an internet forum. Sorry, but what seems to be a lack of activity might be real life intruding.


The VII Toast affair...The VII Toast affair had to be handled delicately. As many people should know, Achronos has his hands full with the site as it is, that's why he appoints moderators. since the moderators ban poor users, we get a lot of hate mail, and undoubtedly Achronos get's 15 times as much as we do. Until the moderators themselves can all get on the same page with regards to another of our members, things can happen kind of slow. And you know, that's also because we have to take user complaints about a moderator with a grain of salt. Don't be so quick to judge our deliberation, it's crass.

I think it is fair testament to the issues with moderating now that impurity quit his post as ninja after a short while indeed. Here was a guy who had countless discussions about the betterment of the community in olden times, who always sees the best in people and who at the same time opposes snobbery. If we're going this route, you had better recheck something here. impurity didn't resign because of lack of community betterment. I kknow the story, the reason he resigned is due to him asking to be banned because he was having an anger issue with some dumb schmuck on the forum, and then getting into an argument with a Master Moderator who will remain nameless unless he or impurity wish to name names in that regard. I think the rant would serve you better were it accurate.
Dmbfan was the same.. dmbfan resigned because of issues with getting in trouble at work. Also, he's a member of TFM, doesn't that make him a gigantic troll according to your rant?

With living proof of how more or less anybody who follows the formulae can become a moderator- ARRRGHHH!!! The only 'formula' is be a good poster, be nice to other users more than 70% of the time (roughly) and care for the community. It happens to fall on those we notice more than others, after a vote to gauge when they are on most often and how we can best maintain coverage of the forums.

Your rant may be well meaning, in order to shake up the community and make it a bit better, but it's horribly misguided, and horribly wrong in many places. When you do such a thing, you tarnish the reputation of everyone involved. I don't appreciate it. And snowman, I'd appreciate you not posting something that inflammatory by proxy anymore, let the writer exhibit a little courage next time. As it is, it sounds like a long time member who has missed out on being selected for moderator, or who has had something not go his way in a dispute, and comes across as very petty.

  • 03.14.2007 12:27 AM PDT
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I can't believe I missed this whilst I spent the night painting my Tug. God diggity damn.

[Edited on 3/14/2007]

  • 03.14.2007 12:30 AM PDT
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Thankyou Jim. I know it's hard to answer a lot of that without stepping on toes but that was well handled.

  • 03.14.2007 12:34 AM PDT
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Of course, it is always great for a member like me to come along and rant like this(the again this isn't my rant so...), it happens every few months or so, but nothing ever comes of it., but I digress This time I'm going to go a bit farther.

I only hope Achronos sees this.

As far as the community side goes, I have said my piece there, and what happens will happen, that I cannot change. I can however offer my advice to Achronos, if he will take it, as to a way to bring back the 'community' on his side.

My advice falls under two different Categories: The 7th Column and Groups: How To Not Suck!

The 7th Column:
Bring it back, plain and simple. The 7th Column page is completely dead, this does not help to inspire a community feel at all. Try to get it active again. Some suggestions: Get the Spotlight up and running on some kind of regular basis, start doing the soapbox again, offer more Chapter support directly through the column. If you have to, try to get a certain someone who's entire job on B.net is to run that 7th Column page.

Maybe reactivate Team ACS(Active Chapter Support) and this time with the 7th Column as a backing. I was a part of the original Team ACS, and we did well, but with our lack of resources were overcome. We had to many request for help, we could not handle it. An official 7th Column Team ACS would be a welcome addition to the Community and groups.

I know not if this is possible, but try to get some real Bungie Employees, aside from Bungie.net workers(Frankie, yourself, Sketch, etc...) to become at least moderately active on the website. Of course this isn't an easy task I know, most will probably not want to do this. But, think about it for a moment. Having a Bungie employee around doing the sopbox, or for instance I have a technical question about Halo 3, or something to do with the engine, and I post it in the forums, there would be an actual employee there to answer me, participating. This would cause an immense community feel, as Bungie employees themselves would be a part of it.

Groups: How To Not Suck
I have no clue what you have in store for Group Achronos, so I can only speculate, but if your willing to take it here are a few ideas from a long time member.

Refine groups more, it may be harsh but maybe we should go back to having to have your group creation accepted. This would cut down on all of these copy groups and encourage more activity in the original ones. No need to have another damn halo 3 Beta group, just join the one that already exists and enjoy.

Make the homepages more customizable. As in, maybe design it so that you can choose different layout templates for your group Homepage. Nothing major of course, but kinda like the themes are now, just moving things around. Make more options also. Not all groups are about Clans, so why should all Display a Clan box? it should be a selectable option to show.

Also, why not expand even farther on Clan groups. Not only may you show your Clan box but make it so that you can fully implement your entire clan status, members, info, and etc into your chapter. Kinda like merging the Clan Page and Group. This would encourage more clans to have groups as their homepages, and thus expand the 7th Column further.

Of course these are just basic ideas, but they can be expanded on, refined, and made into something spectacular. I know, you don't just say thing and they happen, so making changes like these are not easy, but I have total confidence in your Web Development skills.

[Edited on 3/14/2007]

  • 03.14.2007 12:44 AM PDT
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Location: Outlaws' Summit.

My eyes hurt........

Will post proper response after swelling goes down, LoL. But for now, I think things are fine. The new mod selection was a good one (evilcam and achilles are really classy people, trigger is cool, ash and godsprophet too.)

The people aspect was/is a bit of a problem, but hey.....that's why it's a forum........

  • 03.14.2007 12:57 AM PDT

MY LOVE FOR YOU IS LIKE A TRUCK...
Posted by: Langley
--on another note, I think MLG Chewhatever is an idiot.

Posted by: Achronos
There is a reason I am user ID 1 and my account creation date is before this site came online.

Posted by: Great_Pretender

I'd like to think I've become a person worthy of the position, since then.

-TGP-



I agree. If anyone has shown the possibility of the community (at least in my limited vantage) it has been TGP. Am I saying that because I'm friends with TGP? No, because I don't consider myself as such a title; we are acquaintences, nothing more nothing less. But as TGP has demonstrated, those people that are selected to become mods might need some time to grow into their new role. I would imagine it would be hard being a "normie" for an extend amount of time and then thrust into the spotlight that comes with being a moderator. Along with that new title comes the groupies and hate-mail alike. Some might not know how to handle that influx, or some might not desire to handle it and would much rather sneak back to the obscurity of being a "normie".

Have I ever had issue with any of the actions that I've seen moderators take part in? Not in my limited recollection. The only time I can possibly give an example with regards to some of the people listed in the rant from TFM that took it upon themselves to create a rather pointless thread about someone (I suspect is their friend) on the main forums. It was around 3am EST and not that many people saw the thread before it was handled accordingly by Pezza. It was spam none-the-less, but it was handled accordingly by locking threads. However, if it had been any other member, they might have received further punishment. I do not know the exact details, so I cannot comment further without it going into speculation.

Ah, how are moderators chosen...that is probably one of the most "holy grail" of topics on these forums. I too, once ventured to ask that exact question, however it was several several years ago now. Most times the question is returned with some "cloak and dagger" autoresponse that gives little information in regards to the question, but is rather to serve as a humorous response. Here is how I look at moderators and their selection process. I am a political scientist so naturally I'll draw on something from that perspective to ellaborate my point. How I see the heirarchy of those in control of power (mods or online team) is much related to the Cabinet of the President. The Cabinet serves as those who are in charge of the various aspects of the bureaucracy (forums) while allowing the President to concentrate on the executive aspect of the job (Achronos for Prez '08!!) However, the appointment of the members of the Cabinet is through direct appointment by the President (Achronos). He appoints those who he feels will do the best job, but naturally he appoints those that he is more familiar with. When he cannot rely upon his own experience in selecting someone for the Cabinet, he ofter will seek out the advice of those already serving (Hey Master Mods, who do you want as your new whipping boy?) Those who are suggested are run through the paces, and those who pass muster, are selected. However, just like the Cabinet, mod selections often times come as being selected because of who you know. Does that make them any less qualified? Not hardly. Now, appointments are not for life terms and neither are the moderators. They can quit, they can resign, or they can be removed. In the process of removing such a person, it is never dealt with in a hasty fashion. If you expect it should be, you have far too high of expectations.

But that's the rub. Trying to tell how a person will react to their appointment can take some time. Someone might make a great attorney, but make a lousy Attorney General. Someone might be a good Secretary of State, but were lackluster before that position. People act differently in different situations. Don't believe me, take any sociology course and I'm sure it is one of the first things they instruct you on. With this in mind, saying someone is either a good or bad moderator within the small amount of time that they have been one is rather presumptious in my opinion. Maybe they are working out their niche as being a moderator. I would argue that Recon wasn't the same type of moderator he is today when he first got into the mod biz. As TGP said, he has grown as a moderator since being made one. And that is where the beauty of working with the human element is. People are dynamic, and they are usually rather unpredictable. However, it is because of those unknown variables that trial and error must be used. Hindsight is 20/20, but if nothing is ventured nothing is gained. Maybe when the mod selections were made some "gambles" if you will were allowed because of the great possibility that they might turn into a great moderator. We'll never know unless they are given the oppertunity.

And that is really what this is, an opportunity. All of this is an opportunity. It's an opportunity to come together as a group of people because we have at least the basic common interest in a game developing company. People have joined together in bonds over far more random things in the past. It's also an opportunity to get to know people that we would have never become acquianted if not for Bungie.net. So in that regards the 7th Column and the community will always be a success. If one person gets to know another person, through the opportunity of the Column, then it can be considered successful. Now the degree of success will always vary, but it is successful none-the-less. With any opportunity, there is always possibility for great things, but to expect them is expecting too much. I've gained a lot from my involvement with the community, most of which comes in that human dynamic I like to talk about so much.

One final thing I guess I want to talk about. Do I feel that there should be more interaction from the top down (ie. from Bungie personnel or online team members)? Of course I would ideally like more personal feedback from the higher-ups, because it is their opinions that shape how things are done here on the site, or in other various arenas. Now, is that personal level of attention always feasable. I would venture it is not. However, as I have said in another long winded post I wrote, it is the simple things that can make or break community involvement. I know I have attempted to do things for the community in the past, and they weren't incredible successes, and I have become discouraged because of that. And it would be much more encouraging to hear back from those who control the ebb and flow of the site or Bungie itself to get that simple "pat on the back". I've said in the past that there needs to be some additional "reward" for being a good member. Giving to the Column and the Community is all well and good, but eventually it is nice to get something in return in the form of recognition (which can take a variety of forms, not just a "reward"). Most of the "good members" in my opinion have altruistic reasons for helping the community, but even those die-hard helpers get weary sometimes. Like the cliche, "sometimes it's the little things that mean the most", a simple "reward" could go a long way towards motivating people to become productive members.

Maybe I have a rather sheltered view of the community because I haven't seen it really much before the "New Hawtness" was upon us. But rather it seems that with the incredible influx of members that came with Halo 2 being released, people had rather sheltered expectations of how the Column would respond to the masses who entered. It is no stretch of the imagination that almost over-night the Column expanded probably exponentially. With that influx of new members, many of which didn't know what to expect from the Column,and so many started to try to carve out their own personal part of it. Maybe this created factions, but for all the new members knew it was what they were suppose to be doing.

Now, I've said countless things that probably would hurt my chances of being a moderator (ie saying that I'm an Elitist). However, that is how I feel, and if that hurts my chances of being a moderator, maybe I wasn't fit for the position anyways. And from all my conversations with those who are mods, maybe being a "normie" is the best place to be.

Eh, damn the man...long live the "normies"!!!

Humbly submitted,
~BerserkerBarage

  • 03.14.2007 1:32 AM PDT

cockburnicus@live.com
New Flood

Posted by: Great_Pretender
I confess that my being made a mod was really only because of Reigi (and to a certain extent, Yoozel). I can safely say that I was made a mod less because of my abilities as a member and a moderator, but because I was friends with an old-timer and I lived in a different timezone. That's certainly a boost on my self-esteem.

I'd like to think I've become a person worthy of the position, since then.

Awwwww your the greatest moderator ever!

  • 03.14.2007 2:04 AM PDT

TFM
SB 117
Former Comrade to all except most......

Right, I don't post much in the main forums anymore and am one of the founding members of TFM and honestly i'm tired of all of this, people think we are an ultra secret group of people who travel round in small blacked out cars occasionally getting out to twat people over the head with bats, this as much as you want to be true is not we are just a group of people who are tired of suck ups, are tired of people constantly complaining, yet half the time it seems we don't even have to do anything to raise an eyebrow or get someone to involentarily soil themselves. We are just a group of people working away from the main forum thats all if you can't understand that then please don't talk about something you don't understand.

  • 03.14.2007 2:25 AM PDT

*Sgt

I like the moderators we have (although I was glad when toast got fired), but sometimes it pisses me off when they just lock threads and ban people for no apparent reason. Its never happened to me, but I always think to myself "Man, if I were that person I'd be pretty mad right about now." In the end though, I'm sure there is a reason.. I hope :p

[Edited on 3/14/2007]

  • 03.14.2007 4:00 AM PDT

SB-117

Posted by: snowmanaxt7
Consider The Frozen Minority, a group of people initially from the community hub known as the Bungie Jumpers. The more exclusive – aristocratic, if you will – of these separated from the main congregation to form their own little haven, complete with some public forum moderators.

Have these people ever contributed anything to the wider community? Well, yes, one or two did. Of course, the real work behind their sole project (the Bathroom Reader) is done by those who lack such high statuses. But, for the most part, no, they haven’t. In fact, their actions have even been detrimental towards others. Not too long ago, their troupe embarked on a number of rampages throughout mainly the Halo 3 forum, where they took full advantage of the uninformed masses and/or commoners and had significant fun at their expense. Granted, they’re not the only ones to have done this, but their intentions were malicious and their moderator friends turned a blind eye. Again, they were having fun and a bit of fun isn’t a bad thing, but these people have no idea when to stop, and those of dignity who are aware of their actions – the respectable GameJunkieJim, say – are powerless to stop them without in some way endangering their relationship.

Edit: I will say "you", not at snowman, but the person he posted this for (who I think has no reason to hide, as it's just an opinion, albeit baseless in places).

Right. If you want to see the "all-exclusive" frozen minority just click here. It's not some super-secret HFCS v2, it's just a group Jay made aaaaaages ago because we have a clan in Halo 2. You know... for clan members. Hence why only clan members are in it. As you can see from the screenshot it's not active at all (bar trigger's new "WE'RE EXCLUSIVE!" thread mentioning this thread - which has no replies).

I agree with your concerns but I do think you assume far too much to arrive at your conclusions. Anyway, at least this is a nice thread to point out the "elitism" issues.

[Edited on 3/14/2007]

  • 03.14.2007 5:10 AM PDT

I don't even know if I'm cool enough to post here. But I have to. I was having fun here at B.net until this. I guess I had no idea that it sucked so bad. I guess I have a lot to learn yet.

Jeezz, I have grumpy days for sure, but isn't this place fun ?
I like. No, I love most of the folks around here.

I feel that at times I fall under the name of Troll, Spammer, Suck-up, Cop, Jerk... Hell you name it. I'm just here to have fun with everybody and I hope to find folks that do to.

All this "Death of the Seventh Column Crap" Sounds like folks giving up, not getting what they want out of it, seeing others being promoted in spots that they should have. Breaking down people into groups of folks is life man. Not everybody gets along or can "get" or understand people.

All members are different, but we're hanging at the same site for a reason.
Every single person here is from the same family tree. BUNGIE. The spammers love Bungie, Trolls love Bungie, Old Schoolers love Bungie, New Bees like me, LOVE BUNGIE. Hell baby... It's All love round here.

Maybe the old schoolers need to sit me down and tell me more of what's wrong here. Til then, I say... Shut Up And Do It ? Ideas are cool, but community passion or love for community can only be done one post at a time, one idea implemented at a time. This rant if anything seems to be a part of the attitude problem around here and not a solution at all.

Hey that's just my thoughts, don't hate me for 'em. I still think you're cool regardless because you like a sweet game company. Smart move, good choice. They rule.

BTW, damn I wish my rants looked that good. I need a better dictionary my goodness.

Peace.

  • 03.14.2007 5:11 AM PDT

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I read parts 1, 2 and 3 and then I realized that with all those words in your rant, the word summarization seemed to have been lost.

I'll make a better post after school.

  • 03.14.2007 6:23 AM PDT
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I read all that and was kind uf dumb to it all. I'm not well informed on what's going on around the community so I can't really respond much to it.

I've never exactly had a problem with any modertor other than Antom P Nym(I Think that's it =P) but maybe it was over a stupid reason. I have since then dropped all aggrivation towards him and what not. I'm not sure how things go around New Mombasa anymore but when I pretty much dropped being an active member it was filthy with spam.

To say the least, It felt as tho the Moderators were unmotivated to even try to reform that section of the forums, thus trolling became widespread... Thus I left. I'm not sure why, to my notice, hardly anything was being done but I'm not gonna point my finger and make up false reasons.

  • 03.14.2007 6:58 AM PDT
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Destinypedia - The Wiki for Bungie's Destiny
Posted by: DEATHPIMP72
Anyone but Foman. He smells like cheese.

Being a reader, I am always inclined to read carefully written and long posts with much more interest and care than a short post. This post was no exception, and I read the whole thing carefully. Please keep that in mind as you read this reply further.

I am going to disagree with those people who say it is well-written. But to be fair, I write persuasive and argumentative pieces for a living; my standards may be a bit high.

I want to respond at length to this rant, and although I know that anything more than three paragraphs long on these forums is unlikely to be read thoroughly, I believe that most of the Septagon knows my posts well enough for this to catch your attention.

Throughout this post, I will refer to "you." When I say that, I am referring to the original poster - not snowman, but whomever he posted for.

This Is Not the Bungie Soap Opera

I am too old for the social games we all used to play in high school. I remember them well, and your rant smacks of trying to revive or transpose them onto a video game developer's website.

I resent you for attempting to do this. And I think that "resent" is possibly not strong enough a word. I resent you and anybody and everybody else who feeds into this for attempting to turn a fun and lighthearted way to kill time during my workday into a horrifying, juvenile, intimidating melodrama.

I am in my late twenties, a fully grown man with an undergraduate and a graduate professional degree. Despite the large amount of time I spend here, perhaps I see things through a different lens, as my job takes me all over the world and my co-workers and clients are people with real power - CEOs of some of the world's largest corporations, politicians with names that I guarantee you would recognize, and attorneys/judges who have helped to mold and change the laws that affect our daily lives. So excuse me if I fail to see how becoming or not becoming a moderator on Bungie isn't the most important goal in the world.

I was popular in high school, as I was an all-star football player and a straight-A student, so please don't think that I am simply being a "sore loser" when I say that I was thrilled to leave the gossiping, sophomoric, worthless discussions that my "popular" friends got into far behind. Your attempt to revive this kind of false social hierarchy on this website is offensive beyond words to me.

Perhaps I am being a bit harsh. I do not want to sound dismissive. The following statement will sound like a cliche, but I say it honestly and from the bottom of my heart: I believe that you have seen too many episodes of "The Real World" and its ilk. It must be realized that this is not a reality TV show or a soap opera, and we are not actors in a melodrama.

When viewed through the lens of melodrama and politics, everything seems to have more weight and impact. When it comes down to it, this is a video game website. Even being a moderator is not "real" power - it is perceived power. Sure, they can ban you, or whatever, and they get special text, but when it comes down to it, a moderator is still a guy just sitting at his computer - just like you.

You claim that you were "used" as someone else's springboard to power. In keeping with this "soap opera" theme, you seem to feel betrayed and dismayed by some other unnamed person's promotion to moderator over you.

Well you know what? Boo hoo. I -- along with many other non-moderators who post regularly in the Septagon -- would love to become a moderator. I have a genuine interest in the Community and I am a huge Bungie fan. I do what I can to help the Community, trying to come up with new ideas, post intelligently at all hours of the day and night, discuss others' posts thoroughly using logic and reason rather than emotion and insults, pass along "bad posts" to the forum moderators, and even help Gods Prophet to run The Guide, so that new users just getting involved in the 7th Column have a place to go to find interesting information, reviews, and interviews.

I have done what I can to distinguish myself in this Community, and I think that I would make a great moderator. I could lay out the reasons here, but I do not feel that this is the appropriate place to engage in shameless self-promotion. Instead, my point is to say that if I never "get the promotion," I will not feel slighted or betrayed in any way. I do not want to be a moderator for the power, but rather to help the Community. And that is what YOU and every other person in this Community (moderators and regular members alike) should similarly desire. As long as someone is helping to clean things up and keeping things active and intelligent, I will be happy to spend my free time here on bungie.net. Moderator or not. I do admit to wanting to become a moderator, but not for power reasons. Rather, to help this FUN and ENTERTAINING WEBSITE be more interesting.

You haughtily refer to a 7th Column "aristocracy" and "upper class," using the words that you know have a negative connotation in order to imply your apparent disapproval of this stratification. You seem to forget that even you admitted that some people who post here are morons and some are clearly more intelligent than others. I see absolutely nothing wrong with attempting to distinguish oneself by posting intelligently, nor with preferring to associate and identify with peers who one sees as similarly intelligent or creative. To do so does not mean that you are elitist, but rather that you prefer to a have a place on bungie.net where you do not have to wade through forum games, spam, and classified ads just to find an intelligent and meaningful discussion.

If you turn these forums into some kind of ridiculous false power game, you will inevitably start to see ghosts that are not there and feel betrayed if you are not the individual to "rise up the social ladder" (or however you put it).

The Latest Batch of Moderators

I must forcefully and emphatically disagree with any notion that the "latest batch" of moderators is some kind of failure. Such a statement or implication is an obscene miscarriage of the truth - even if it IS based entirely on some anonymous person's subjective ideas of what makes a good moderator.

In my role for The Guide, I have had the opportunity to have extremely in-depth conversations with many of our forum moderators. I have asked them pointed and blunt questions and seen nothing but a genuine desire to help the Community. I know what power-hunger looks like, and I also know that a person who is truly power-hungry will not be drawn to a video game website. What you find in the more distinguished ranks of the Bungie Community are people who genuinely want to help and exchange thoughtful ideas, and make things easier for all to navigate. That is what it IS and SHOULD BE about. Nothing more.

The moderators whom I have interviewed for the Guide have not only said that they have a genuine interest in helping the Community, but proved it by being ruthless but fair in locking bad threads, banning bad users, and contributing to the Community in wholly meaningful, intelligent, and helpful ways.

I am not an ass-kisser, and make no mistake: I am not going to be kissing the ass of some person who is ten years younger than me merely because they type in white text. But I am going to be fair. And that means calling you and your false statements out for the self-serving, despicable lies that they are.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe that you feel pretty great about yourself after writing this. It seems to me that the primary purpose of the post is not motivated by a desire to help the Community, but rather a desire to make yourself feel self-righteous about the fact that you are not a moderator. Ironically, you not only had no choice in not becoming a moderator, but you even wanted it badly enough to feel betrayed when someone else became a moderator over you.

I despise this thread because it adds nothing to the Community and nothing to the fun and entertainment value of bungie.net. Instead, this thread attempts to take something fun and entertaining that I love and turn it into the halls of my high school / a reality TV show.

For this reason, I will not be responding any further in this thread. Instead, I'm going to head over to the Halo 3 forum and discuss X Button theories and graphics. This thread cannot and will not take the fun of the Bungie website away from me.

[Edited on 3/14/2007]

  • 03.14.2007 7:52 AM PDT

cockburnicus@live.com
New Flood

I read all of foman's post and man does he really lay in to you with the big words and the harsh tone.
I guess i agree with him. Stop trying to take the fun away!
p.s. surely if the bungie mods wanted power they would actually have some sort of power? All they can do is ban me, i can create another account and be a cretin on that account.
If they wanted real power they'd launch a coup de ta on frankie and usurp his position. Either that or get a real job and get enough money to have people killed?

  • 03.14.2007 8:26 AM PDT

Sandswept Studios Design Director

Visit us and check out our games at Sandswept.net!

~~Pardon Our Dust.~~

Dangit Foman. Now what's the point of me posting? You stole my entire opinion, and then summed it up better than I ever could.

:D

  • 03.14.2007 8:32 AM PDT
  •  | 
  • Elder Mythic Member

Instead of reading my post, go back and re-read Jim's. He said what i wanted to, but better.

  • 03.14.2007 8:45 AM PDT

2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2:11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Just read it and I can say now that it is a very good read. I wasn't informed that some moderators -- selected before my time, were only selected because they were friends with Bungie or their mods. Very informative read. I agree for the most part, with this quote:

Everyone is so scared of authority and damaging their chances of becoming ninjas these days that they are afraid to speak their mind. Take it from somebody who has devoted countless hours to trying to improve things both publicly and privately, and who has seen many great members fade away to be forgotten.

I think this is the most important quote in the whole post because it is very true. People quote moderators or bungie staff all the time to laugh at their jokes or to compliment them in some way, just to be a kiss ass and increase their chances of being a mod.

When I quote a mod, I usually ask myself this question: "would I be quoting this person if they weren't a mod". And if the answer is yes, I would reply. If no, I'd simply just forget about replying. Works pretty well, I'd say.

  • 03.14.2007 9:09 AM PDT